Calls for a “full recall of patients” have been made after an investigation found that a Salford surgeon’s “unacceptable” behaviour put dozens of people in “severe” harm.
The recall comes after a report, published by the Northern Care Alliance, found that Salford Royal’s former spinal surgeon John Bradley Williamson’s “unacceptable and unprofessional” behaviour put 20 out of 130 patients at risks ranging from moderate to severe, during a five year period.
Positioned at the hospital between 1991 and January 2015, Dr Williamson was found to have completed botched surgeries which left some patients with blood loss and mobility issues. Among the issues raised in the report, 23 cases of issues with screw placement and screws being misplaced were identified.
More than 100 people who were treated under Dr Williamson were recalled last year, with lawyers acting on behalf of one of the individuals who suffered “severe” harm whilst in the care of the surgeon urging the Northern Care Alliance to conduct a full recall of patients.
The claimant, known here as Patient X, underwent spinal surgery for a pre-existing condition at Salford Royal Hospital in 2012. Following the operation, he complained of loss of sensation and movement in his leg, leading him to have several follow up surgeries.
An investigation into the sensations concluded that out-of-date MRI scans caused screws to be inserted in the wrong place during surgery. It was noted that normal practice is for updated scans to be obtained no more than six months before the date of surgery, with Patient X’s dating back 29 months, back in 2010.
Had the scan been up to date, the complications experienced by Patient X following the surgery ‘may have been preventable’. Commenting on the situation, Patient X said: ” When you go in for surgery of any kind you place your trust, and your health, in the hands of the professionals.
“The impact of the failings identified continue to have a significant impact on me even now, more than a decade later, and I find that very difficult to come to terms with.
“No one should have to go through what we have been through, and I only hope that now that the true extent of the failings have come to light that the Trust acts on its promise to learn important lessons from what happened.”
To date the investigation has only looked at some patients treated by Dr Williamson at Salford Royal, even though he also worked at The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and the nearby private Spire Hospital.
Christian Beadell, Medical Negligence Lawyer at Fletchers Solicitors is calling for an independent review into both the actions of the surgeon, and into the Trust’s response.
He said: “Mr Williamson… will have been directly involved in the treatment of many patients prior to the scope of this investigation. We also know he carried out operations elsewhere.
“Those patients will now be looking to the Trust for reassurances that their treatment was appropriate, and that adequate follow up and active management has been undertaken for any complications that may have arisen, no matter when that occurred.
“To provide that reassurance, and to restore trust in the hospital, an independent review of all of Mr Williamson’s patients, as well as of the slow response of the Trust to the concerns raised, is now needed.”
Dr Rafik Bedair, NCA Chief Medical Officer, said: “Every patient has the right to receive a good standard of care and where this is not the case, they deserve to understand what went wrong. Sadly, in this case, things did go wrong, and twenty patients were harmed. We are deeply sorry for this.
“It is regrettable that it took so long for this investigation to happen, but when concerns were raised with us by a group of colleagues through our ‘Freedom to speak up’ process in 2021, we acted upon this quickly. Even though many of these surgeries were carried out years ago, time does not matter where patient safety is concerned.
“As a new leadership team, listening to our colleagues is incredibly important to us and we were determined to understand what happened and learn important lessons.
“We thank the patients and their families that have been involved in the review.
“Our spinal unit provides safe care for our patients and people should be assured that we’ve been in touch with anyone whose care or treatment we needed to look at. Of course, any patient who has any concerns, can come forward at any time for advice.”
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